100 Years
by The Weather Gal
Summary: Josh & Donna and a flight to freedom. 7th and Final Chapter Uploaded!
1. Suddenly You're Wise

**Notes: Josh/Donna, set approximately a week after 2162 Votes. Might be a stand alone, but might make it a series. West Wing & the characters belong to NBC, John Wells, etc.**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

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**100 Years**

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He had always enjoyed going to the Kennedy Center, it didn't matter what for, but the grandness of the place had always stunned him. It seemed every time he came, he had something important on his mind. This time was no different, this time was the same as the rest.

He took the elevator up to the second floor and went onto the terrace. It was his special place when he was here – no one ever took the effort to come up here. He figured he wouldn't be hassled, he could sit in peace.

The lights in the city were beautiful, the river weaving in between the skyscrapers and the stars were brighter than ever. He sat down at one of the benches and just adored the sky. Nothing else mattered right now, but why was so much on his mind?

"I'm going crazy…" he muttered under his breath.

"No, no you're not."

Her voice surprised him, he didn't want to turn around and have it just be some voice in his head. He couldn't resist, he turned slowly to see her standing there, beautiful as always, and in the moonlight she looked like a glimmering beauty from above.

"I knew you'd be up here, it's your secret place."

She came across the terrace and sat down beside him. He kept his head down, afraid to look into her eyes, into the eyes he couldn't resist. She grabbed his hand and intertwined in with hers.

He gasped a breath of air and turned and faced her. It hurt, it hurt all this time being without her, and now, he didn't know how he could spend one minute without her.

"God, Donna, you look… stunning."

She gently smiled back at him, while laying her head on his shoulder. "It's beautiful out tonight."

"It's not as beautiful as you."

He took her hand, stood up and implied the dance. Their bodies fit together as if they were always meant to be. They swayed in the music of the stars, alone in their own world for the time being.

He pulled away after a moment and stared down at his feet. "God, why is this so hard to do?" he thought.

"I can't believe we've wasted all this time, I mean, why was I so foolish all those years?" he told her, wrapping his hand in hers.

"It doesn't matter now, the only thing that matters is that we'll have each other for the rest of our years."

He took her back in his arms and they gently swayed. It was perfect, he was finally getting his girl.

**FLASHBACK**

They were wrapping up a lunch when he caught the corner of his eye. She was working for Leo now, as his press secretary. He was going to offer her a job, but Leo beat him to the punch. It was probably wiser as well… considering she would probably feel out of place working directly with Santos.

She was walking with a whole stack of papers and talking on her cell phone at the same time. She had that look on her face – the one when you're trying to get something but the other person is not being too flexible. She put on her 'anger' face and then it turned to a smile.

He sat there in awe, she was beautiful. How clueless had he been? How couldn't he have seen that the one true love of his life had been right in front of his nose this entire time? He slinked to the back, almost in a haze, ignoring any and all comments as he passed.

He walked up behind her and gently tapped her shoulder. She quickly turned around, a look of determination across her face. As soon as she realized it was him, it turned into a comforting smile.

"Hey," she said in a quiet tone.

"Hi," was all he could mutter. His throat was almost dry. He was choking over the right words.

"You guys almost wrapped up?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter."

He stopped. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at his shoes. He decided now was a good time as any. He noticed an empty room to the left and grabbed her arm and dragged her in.

"What are you doing Josh? We have to get ready to go to the rally!" she insisted.

He shut the door behind him, took her papers and set them down. Impulsive Josh was becoming his favorite and he went in for the plunge.

"Donna, I don't know how much longer I can wait to do this."

And with that, he leaned in and started to kiss her. He was certainly afraid of rejection, but it was soon becoming apparent that she felt the same way. They pulled away after about a minute, with two large grins on their faces.

"Well, okay then."

******End Flashback**

He still couldn't believe he had done that. He was love sick and Donna was his only cure. He ran his fingers through her soft, blonde hair and wanted to throw her right down on the cement.

"We better get back downstairs before anyone notices," she whispers in his ear. She placed a kiss on his cheek on the way back.

"Yeah."

She started to walk away, but before she could get far enough away, he shouted to her, "Donnatella!"

She turned around, standing in the moonlight, "Yes?"

"I love you so much that it hurts."

He had said it and with that, she ran back to him and kissed him again. The concert was just going to have to wait for them.

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**********Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated. Anyone interested in some more?**


	2. Every Day's A New Day

**Author's Notes: **Thank you for the kind reviews. I decided to give this story another go at it. I really enjoy this chapter, so I hope you all do as well. Reviews are greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read my story.

**Disclaimer: **As always, West Wing & the characters do not belong to me, they belong to John Wells, etc.

**100 Years Chapter 2 - Every Day's a New Day**

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He knew it was getting late, he had just read the same paragraph twice and didn't understand one thing. He rubbed his eyes, the fact that he was tired hardly phased him. He was used to staying up late, working on things, getting it done. He surveyed the room – he was the only one remaining, besides a light on in an office at the opposite end of the large space. He wondered who else could be left at this hour, wait, what hour was it even? The clock residing on his desk blinked 2:47.

He decided to stretch his legs. He went straight to get some coffee, the gas that kept him going. He walked down towards the light to check out who else was burning the midnight oil. He grabbed his coffee and peered in the small, closet sized office that was in question.

She was obviously deeply involved with what she was working on and didn't even notice his presence. He watched her for a minute, watched her in frustration type something out on her keyboard, only delete it in the next second. She crossed something off her paper and continued the typing.

He decided he should make his presence known and squeaked out a barely audible, "Hey."

She dropped her pencil and jerked her head up, quite surprised by his presence.

"I… I didn't… didn't know you were still here either."

"Seems that we're the only two left. Whatcha workin' on?" he curiously sat down at an empty chair besides her desk, or rather, workspace that she had invaded.

"It's a thing… it's nothing," she sighed with resignation.

"Well, I sure hope it's not nothing because you wouldn't be up to 3am working on it," he replied, hoping to gain a smile from his witty response.

She placed down her papers next to her laptop and started to close out what she was working on. "You're right. This is silly, it can wait 'till tomorrow."

He looked down for a moment, uneasy about how to approach this unforeseen circumstance. He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously disastrous and out of control. He glanced across the room and his eyes met with hers as his gaze returned.

"So, I know this really great diner around the corner that is open 24 hours. Wanna grab some coffee?" he asked her, unsure if it was the right step, or even a good idea.

She smiled. She started getting up, putting her stuff together in a pile and obviously calling it a night.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Alright, one sec, I gotta grab my coat."

He walked across the dark offices, desks strewn with packets of information, numbers and newspapers, empty cartons of food, and everything in between. It was night time, where peace from the insanity of the sun is found. This place, which he brainstormed ideas and barked out billions of commands, seemed to have this mysterious aura at night. Maybe he was just tired. Tired of doing the same thing over and over again, but he couldn't tell the difference.

He didn't notice her come and meet him, turning off his lamp in the process. He glanced back up at her face, barely visible in the dark light. He grabbed her hand and they made their way out of the room into the night streets. They walked silently down the dark alley into the diner he had suggested they go to.

He opened the door for her, the gentlemanly thing to do. There was one other couple at the end of the diner and an older looking gentleman sitting at the counter. They made their way to a booth near the middle, sitting across from one another.

The woman running the diner at the time came and took their orders – He deciding on an order of toast with coffee, while she chose coffee and some apple pie. They waited until she was out of ear shot before they began their small banter.

"How's it working for Leo?" he asked her.

"It's great," she began, obviously excited and pleased by the statement.

"I'm really glad you joined the campaign," realizing after he had said it, he meant it in more ways than one.

"Me too," she squeaked out.

"Almost can't believe it myself… Leo, running as the VP," he said.

"I know, it's almost hard to believe, I sometimes wake up in the morning and pinch myself. And then I remember."

The end of the statement was quieter than the rest and he knew that she obviously had more on her mind than he could gain from her conversation. By that time though, the waitress had returned with their coffee and she placed them down on their table. They both grabbed their cups and sipped quietly, obviously pondering their thoughts.

"Listen, so I was thinking…" he began, nervousness in his voice, unsure if he should ask what his heart was telling him to.

"You were thinking Josh? Really, I'm glad to hear it, I was worried!"

"Ha. Funny."

"Anyway… you were thinking?"

He reached out to her hand, which was wrapped around her coffee cup at the time. He pulled it off and wrapped his inside of hers.

"Why is it so hard to tell you that you're all I can think about, heck, I'm worried that I'm putting a damper on the campaign how much I'm thinking about you."

She smiled, glanced up, and their eyes met. In his eyes, she saw true emotion, something she wasn't used to seeing in Joshua Lyman, of all people. She was affected by his tone, how he articulated the you in the statement. She was beaming inside, but couldn't let it show to much on her outer skin.

"Which leads me to my next point. Since we're technically not working together, well, yeah, I guess we are, but we aren't…" he fumbled around the right words to say.

"You can just say whatever you are obviously otherwise having trouble saying."

"I was thinking, we could, you know, be a couple, date, you know, that sort of thing. I know that we don't have a lot of time right now to do the typical dating thing, but I'll take you out to lunch or do whatever."

She leaned across the table and kissed him, not just any kiss, but a kiss with some substance. Only when she realized she was indeed in a public place she pulled away from him.

"And I'll take that as a yes?" he asked, a grin as wide as a watermelon.

She smiled at him, nodded, and said, "Yes, of course."

"Good, cos if you had said no I was going to have to… you know… like kill myself or something."

"Now that wouldn't be any good, who would run the campaign?"

"I'm glad you're truly worried about me."

The waitress chose that point to bring their toast and pie and a refill for both of their empty coffee cups. The both ate their respective food in silence temporarily until the sound of crashing plates came from behind the diner's counter.

The both started to laugh, but covered their mouths, trying not to be noticed and given dirty glares by the rest of the people occupying the diner. They quickly finished up their coffee and food and placed the money owed on the table. Another day finished, another mission accomplished. He knew inside that things would not be easy, but he would do his best to make them manageable. She knew that he would protect her and that she never had to worry about anything ever again.

He placed his arm around hers as they walked out into the approaching daylight.

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Thank you for reading! Reviews are great as well. :-)  



	3. There's Never a Better Wish Than This

**Authors Notes: **Thank you for all the kind reviews thus far. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it is longer than the previous ones. And as always, The West Wing, etc. doesn't belong to me, I just have fun.

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**Chapter 3 – There's Never A Better Wish Than This**

It was October – which meant a lot of traveling to places that some of them had never heard of. Making sure to visit the key states and key cities was also on the menu. Josh had always hated October of campaign season; he felt it didn't give him enough time to get his message out to enough people. He had developed a rigorous schedule for the Congressman and for Leo as well. He tried his best to keep them together as much as possible, but he knew better.

Both Congressman Santos and Leo were to meet in Los Angeles for a large rally that had been planned for weeks. It was going to hopefully drive out many Latino voters, which Josh was excited about. The event was planned to run very smoothly and hopefully would go off without a hitch.

The arrived in LA a day before the event, having various events to attend to in addition to the rally, and fundraising to do as well. The Congressman and Leo's staff were to meet up at the hotel at 4, to coordinate the next week of schedules. It had been a week since they had last seen one another and they tried to make sure that everyone was on the same page at least once a week.

He arrived early to the meeting, hoping she might do the same. It had been a very long, lonely week and he was hoping to use the extra 15 minutes to catch up with her. Luckily for him, she came up with the same idea and they both laughed when they realized they what they had done.

"Hey!" they both said joyfully, embracing one another, with Josh placing a small kiss on her cheek.

"Let's go in here," he whispered, pointing to a small office that was connected to the room they were using for the staff meeting. After he closed the door, he leaned in and gave her a better welcome.

"Now that's more like it," she told him as they broke apart.

"I saw you on TV yesterday, you looked great."

"It was really nothing..." she replied, eyes down at the floor.

"You know, I should beat up Leo for offering you a job before I could get to you."

"What? Just because we're apart from each other for a week at a time?" she asks, almost mischievously.

"Exactly!" he proclaims. "I'm having Donna withdrawals and I don't think they are very healthy."

"Well you should get those checked out by a doctor," she says playfully, grabbing his tie towards her, leaning in and kissing him at the next moment.

"That helped a little," he said as they pulled away.

"Well, you know, we are staying at the same hotel tonight," she states.

"Hmm… I wonder who planned that stellar move!"

He looks down at his watch and pulls her back in for another hug. He peeks out the window and realizes that many of the staff members have started to assemble.

"Hey, listen, it's time for the meeting."

"Do we really have to go?"

"Well, you're making me reconsider my decision, but since I am the one running the meeting, I should… you know, get out there," he says, opening the door and they both separated, trying their best to not look suspicious as they left the room. He went to his pile of… well, stuff, which included basically everything. She made her way towards the middle of the group, joining the group of Leo's senior staff.

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It was getting close to midnight and he still wasn't finished with half of the work he had wanted to finish for the evening. He could see the Congressman's two speechwriters, Sally and James working hard on tweaking the language for the speech at the rally. He paused from his work to watch the two, relatively young, staff members debate over a certain line in the speech. She was advocating it, whereas he wanted to see it cut. He noticed with such passion they spoke their words and at that moment, he couldn't have been prouder of choosing Santos to run for President.

He was taken out of his haze by two hands placing themselves on his shoulders. He peered around to see that it was her, with a warming smile across her face. That's all he needed to see, none of this work mattered, he wanted to be with her, sit with her, talk with her, do anything with her.

"Hey," he spoke gently.

"Hi," she replied, bending down to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. A shock of electricity radiated through his body and he felt weak at her touch.

She looked down at the mountain of work he had amassed, obvious that it was what he had been working on all night long. She sat down beside him and gently caressed his hand.

"Looks like you still have a lot of work to do," she told him.

He looked down at the mass of papers and wished he had gotten it accomplished earlier. But he had a solution to this mess.

"Yeah… all these papers to read, things to delegate, a bazillion papers that need to be signed… you know. But hey, I haven't really eaten dinner, so would you like to join me?"

"Of course, then I will drag you back here and you will finish everything," she decided.

"Noooooooooooo!" he whined, grabbing onto her and playfully tickling her.

"Josh! Stop silly! Fine, I'll at least sit with you when we come back, does that sound like a fair trade?" she said, struggling with him to stop tickling her.

"Okay, you have a deal. Let's go, I'm starved." He stood up, pulling her up with him, and they walked side by side out of the offices.

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"So what you're telling me, is that they made you get on the table and dance with only your boxers on?" she asked, barely able to get out the words between her fits of laugher.

"Yeah… and I still can't live it down today. Every time I see one of those guys they always bring it up…" he told her.

"Wait, is one of them named Mike?" she asked.

"Yes… why?" he replied, almost unsure about where this was headed.

She burst out into another fit of laugher, while he just shook his head in protest. They had found a pub down the street from the hotel they had been staying and working at. It was somewhat busy, some of the campaign workers had also chosen this place to drink and eat. They had chosen a table in the corner, trying to seclude themselves from the rest of the rather loud crowd that had been obviously been there for an hour or two.

She had decided on a salad while he had ordered some chicken thing at her persistence. They had been through all the normal rounds of conversation, when she thought it would be funny for him to tell her embarrassing stories about his college days. And some how, he willing obliged.

The food was brought out and the conversation was brought to a halt temporarily. She ate her salad gracefully, while he grunted every time he put another piece in his mouth. She decided to sample his meal, by leaning over and practically stealing half of his chicken.

"What… wha… what are you doing?" he asked, almost speechless.

"Well, you were all grunting and it sounded like you weren't enjoying it, so I figured I might like it," she replied while taking the first bite out of his chicken.

"But I was eating that!"

"You sure as hell weren't too happy about it."

"But Donna…" he said, in his usual complaining tone of voice.

"Here," she said while taking a portion of her salad and placing it on his plate. "Eat this."

"But it's a pile of crap."

"No, it's a healthy pile of crap, there's the difference," she added, a smile peering on her face.

He paused, wanting to continue this argument, but knew that she wins. She always wins. So, he continued his grunting while consuming the pile of greens he had been forced to eat.

They finished quickly, making their way out of the crowded pub into the Los Angeles street light. They walked in silence back to the hotel, hand in hand, admiring one another, cherishing their time together. The fact that they could have these minutes together, together to continue their dreams of making their world a little better for the generations to come, made the fight worth continuing on.

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They reached the hotel and he was unsure if he really wanted to continue the work he had left unfinished on his desk upstairs. It all reality, it could wait until the morning.

"You going to finish your work?" she asked him, as they stood outside the hotel, in the hazy fog of moonlight.

"Nah, it can wait until the morning," he replied, pulling her in for a dance. "Dance with me?"

"Why, thank you for asking," she replied.

And there they stood, two individuals dancing to the music of the moonlight, swaying to the sounds of the streets, and enjoying each other's company for the time they had to share. These special moments they barely were able to share made each one even more special than the last. They stood there for several minutes until they made their way into the quiet hotel.

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**And as always, reviews are greatly appreciated**


	4. Within a Morning Star

**Author's Notes: **Sorry this took so long to get up - FF was not letting me log in for some reason. But alas, here is chapter 4. Thank you again for the all the great reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter and will review again! And of course, none of the characters belong to me – they are the property of NBC, John Wells, etc.\

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**Chapter 4 – Within a Morning Star**

Another flight to another city, another fundraiser and another day. Congressman Santos had assumed a rather heavy campaign schedule for the final four weeks leading up to the election. This of course meant more traveling to and from all locations across the nation. Portland one day and Boston the next, a lavish fundraiser in NYC to a fundraiser on a cow farm in Oklahoma, these were all stops in the elaborate plan to try and win the Presidency. So far, their strategy and plans had been working effectively.

Everyone was upbeat and feeling good about what was happening around them. Everyone but one.

He always sat in the front cabin with the Santos's and some days others had joined them. Some flights he was loud, working outloud and arguing with either the Congressman or some other staffer. Other flights, more of them as of late, he sat in his chair, brooding and quiet the entire flight.

It was an evening flight, they had just finished up some work at the home office in Texas and were headed back to DC for a day full of activities around the capital city. A lot of the senior staff members had made the trip, more than normal. It was getting late and many of them had dozed off.

This was one of those flights that he was brooding and no one could figure out what had him so riled up. He was writing notes for the next couple of days and was showing his frustration in his demeanor.

It had been one week and four days since he had last been with her, and boy, was he trying not to let it show. However, the longer it was becoming the grumpier and unsettled he became.

The Congressman was sitting across from him, watching him and trying to figure out the mystery that lay underneath his shell. He finally had the nerve to ask him what was on his mind.

The Congressman stood up from his seat, stretching out from the work he had been divulged in for two hours. He made his way to an empty seat next to Josh, pushing aside a pile of work that had previously occupied the chair. The Congressman sat in the chair for at least a minute before his staffer realized he was even there.

"Congressman!" he shouted, startled by his boss moving into the chair next to his.

"Hey Josh, how goes it?"

"Fine, I'm just working on preparing some notes for the next couple of days activities…" he said, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"That's not what I meant. Something's on your mind, you've been brooding, grunting all over your work the entire flight. Is there something going on I should know about?"

Josh paused, looking like a deer in the headlights. He looked away, unsure if he should explain to his boss that his campaign schedule was making him extremely lonely. "Well, it's complicated…"

"We do have some time here. We are on a plane and everyone else is pretty much asleep. So spill, you've been like this for days now and something must have happened."

Josh smiled at the man. At that exact moment, he had this image of her in his head. It wasn't a specific time or place, but the image he always had in his mind of her, complete beauty. He missed looking at her, being with her, and most importantly, talking to her. She was the one person he could tell everything to.

"Josh, are you there?" The Congressman said, tapping Josh on the shoulder.

"Yeah… I'm here," he said, coming out of his "Donna haze" and back into reality.

"So that definitely told me something's going on, so you better spill the beans."

"Well, sir, If I tell you, you have to promise, to you know, not kill me, fire me, or laugh at me."

"I can't assure the laugh at you part, but I'll try my best," the Congressman replied.

Josh rubbed his hands together, almost as a warm-up to the entire story he was about to spill to this man, his boss, his new partner in crime in the political world.

"So… you know Leo's Press Secretary?" he began.

"Chicken fighter? The blonde?"

"Yeah, her. Her name's Donna. Donna Moss. Uh… we used to work together at the White House."

"That's what Ronna said. So, what about her?"

"Well… the entire time we worked together we always had this flirty thing goin' on… and then, well, after the convention… well… we kissed," Josh explained, releasing a large sigh after he got it off his chest.

"Yeah Josh! So, go on! I want to hear all about it," Matt continued.

"I'm glad we're spending our time on important things, like discussing Donna and mine's relationship," Josh sarcastically replied.

"Seriously Josh, I don't get enough time to get to know you, and obviously this has been on your mind a lot recently."

"Alright… well, the truth is, all those years we worked together, we always had this thing between us. It was, I suppose, some sort of vibe, like that we were always meant to be together. Then she left to work with Russell and I realized how much I missed her. And since she's been, well, working for us, we've been seeing each other, in the romantic sense…" he rambled on.

The Congressman gave the classic, "Awwww…" response to his aide's little tale.

"I also can assure you that we have not let it interfere with the work we've been doing."

Matt chuckled a little, trying not to awake his sleeping wife. "Josh, you don't have to worry. I'm happy for you, now stop acting all grumpy. Aren't you going to get to see her soon?"

A large smile peered across Josh's face and he replied, "Yes, sir. I'm counting the minutes as we speak."

"You going to treat her like a princess?"

"I always do."

The Congressman stood up from his seat and nodded his head in agreement. It was a silent agreement among men – an agreement that what they were doing was right. Josh smiled inside and knew at that exact moment that he might just be the luckiest guy on the earth.

By the time they had arrived in Washington it was well past 3am. He was expecting to arrive home this late and wasn't expecting to see her tonight. Leo's staff had arrived back in DC the night prior and he was so jealous of her because of it.

He took a cab back to his apartment and noticed a light on in the window. This had him curious – had he forgotten to turn it off when he left last? Was someone in his apartment he wasn't aware of? He had a nervous feeling in his stomach and was almost afraid to open the door. He slowly and quietly opened the door and peered in. He took two steps to see a sleeping Donna lying peacefully on his couch.

He remembered that she had subleased her apartment during campaign season and had no where else to stay. Of course she still had the key to his apartment, he had never asked for it back and she never returned it. He placed his belongings on the floor by the door and walked over to her sleeping body.

He couldn't believe how lucky he really was. Here was this woman, this woman that had given so much of her mind, body, and soul to him everyday of her life for the past eight years. And now he was blessed to know that he had her beside him during the insanity his life was now becoming. He really didn't know what he was getting into when he hopped on a plane to Houston in December, planning on asking someone he hardly knew to run for President. Maybe it was because she had left him and he was searching for some way to make his life complete again. But until they reunited in August, his life was incomplete and now it's more complete than ever.

He turned on the light next to the couch and slightly touched her lifeless soul. She stirred and her eyes peered open barely, until she realized that he was in front of him, and then they peered wide open.

"Hey there sunshine," he told his sleeping beauty.

"Hi," she barely was able to emit.

"You want to actually sleep in the bed?" he asked her.

"Mmhmm," she muttered. She stood up from the couch and leaned on him while they walked the short distance to the bedroom. He made sure she was in bed and tucked right in.

He placed a polite kiss on her forehead and told her, "Good night my Donnatella."

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**Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.**  



	5. The Sea is High

**Authors Notes: Thanks again for reading and thanks to those who review. As always, The West Wing, the characters, all belong to NBC & John Wells, etc.**

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**Chapter 5 – The Sea is High**

He stood on the opposite side of the room, watching her every move. Today she was wearing this great outfit and it certainly had his eyes locked on her. He watched her take notes while Leo was speaking, intent on catching every little detail. He watched her put a strand of hair in her face behind her ear. It made him weak in the knees. He almost wanted to jump over the crowds of people and slam her on the ground and kiss her uncontrollably.

His fantasy of her was interrupted by the loud clapping the audience gave the Congressman after his speech. He just realized he had not listened to a single word of the speech. What a good campaign manager he was turning out to be. It didn't matter. Well, yes, yes it mattered indeed. It mattered greatly. But in his heart it did not matter as much as loving Donna mattered.

In his head his brain paused. When did he turn from political mastermind, content on only gaining political victories, to Joshua Lyman, adoring, passionate man. He didn't know when the changed had occurred, but he had a feeling both Donna and the spirit of the Congressman had something to do with it.

He was taken out of his haze again when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and noticed it was Ronna, piled high with papers and other nonsense.

"Josh, can you grab some of this?" she asked him.

He took part of her stack as they maneuvered their way out of the event.

"He did good today," she remarked.

Josh chuckled a bit, considering he hadn't listened to a single word. "Yeah, he did great."

They both headed out of the building with the group of campaign employees. He did not see her any more; it was almost as if she had disappeared out of his sight. He had a nervous flip-flop in his stomach, he couldn't help if he was constantly worried about her and always wanted to see her.

As they reached outside, he could see her blonde hair up amidst the crowd of people. He wiggled through the crowds of those heading to the cars to return back to their campaign base in DC. He wanted to ride in her car and pushed aside at least a dozen people trying to get to her. Alas, his efforts were rewarded when he arrived at her side.

"Hey," he said, announcing himself.

She turned around, her hair blowing in her face as she whipped around. A large smile appeared across her face as she saw he was standing beside her.

"Hi," she replied.

"I figured since we all are going back to the same place… we could, you know, ride together…" he stuttered out.

"Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Good."

"Uh, Josh? You realize you are holding like a massive stack of… well, I'm not quite sure what all those papers are," she said, while trying to suppress some laughter.

He looked down at all the stuff he was holding and just shrugged his shoulders. He remembered Ronna handing them to him, but she didn't say what they were.

"Josh, there you are! You went running off without me. I figured you might want someone else to take all that stuff…" Ronna started screaming to him through the crowd, while trying to clear a path to him.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, I just had to talk to Donna, about something, you know, important…" he replied, covering up his unbelievable actions.

"Here," she said, pulling the papers out of his hands. "You really are something? You know that?"

Donna stepped up next to Josh and put a hand on his shoulder. "You could say that. I remember times when I would have to…"

He stopped her there by lightly punching her upper arm. "Hey now, let's not play be mean to Josh."

Both women laughed and smiled at one another. Ronna moved away from the couple and headed towards another group of staffers. The two moved towards the car they would be riding back to the headquarters in. He stepped forward and opened the door for her, which caused a broad smile across her face.

They were in a car being driven by one of the younger staffers. He was obviously just a college student who was excited just to be a part of the whole process.

The two were the only ones riding in the back of the vehicle and were sitting quite close together.

"So, I was thinking…" he started.

"Oh no, here we go with the thinking again. I told you Josh, it's not healthy!" she replied, laughing while pointing at him.

"Anyway… as I was trying to say, I was thinking that you know, after we kick some ass and win the election, and we have a week or two off before we go back to the White House, you and I, we could… take that trip to Hawaii…"

"Well, aren't we confident?" she replied.

"Very much indeed."

"So, you're thinking… that you and I might take the trip to Hawaii that you've owed me for what? Like 5 or 6 years now?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"So, I take that as a yes?"

She grinned, "Of course. A trip to Hawaii on your bill? Of course I'll go!"

"Now you're just using me for my money? You don't even want to spend time with me?" he said, with his usual pouty face.

"Well," she started, placing a hand on his chest, "I can think of one or two ways that I would enjoy spending time with you."

He leaned over and gently started to kiss her. He started to move in to deepen the kiss, but was stopped by the hard breaking of the vehicle. He turned to face the driver of the vehicle, noticing he had his head faced away from the back of the vehicle. She pulled him back from his obvious desire to put a stranglehold on the poor college volunteer.

He looked over at her. He loved this woman, she was everything, and she was kind, most importantly. She could always keep him calm and in check. He turned back in his seat and took a deep breath.

"You know, I don't know what I'd do now if you weren't around. I think I'd probably explode," he honestly told her.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it ever so gently. She nodded to him, telling him she understood in more ways than one. She could hardly wait until Hawaii.

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**Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated and adored! **


	6. I'm All Right With You

**Authors Notes:** Thanks for the reviews, once again. Thank you to all who are reading as well. _This chapter is my longest chapter yet!_As always, The West Wing characters, etc. all belong to John Wells, NBC, etc.

**Chapter 6 - I'm All Right With You**

Crunch time was upon the staffers of the Santos Campaign. It was exactly two weeks until the election, a time that was spent voicing their promises and plans for a better America on a minute by minute basis. Speeches at schools, rallies, parties, and fundraisers, all combined to span a single day. A day would not go by with the Congressman not visiting more than 8 or 10 places and sometimes way more than that. It was all putting a toll on them, but in everyone's hearts, they knew it would be worth it in the end. They were doing something special.

He was working late, ironing out the last week of the campaign. The campaign was taking its toll on him as well, he appeared tired and worn out even after getting his much desired 4 or 5 hours of sleep. He managed and he knew he had Hawaii to look forward to.

Working beside him this evening was one of the campaign speechwriters, a young guy named Todd. He had hired him two months ago and Toby had once called to compliment the young man's writing. He was impressed with the young man's passion and energy; he always brought his a game to the table.

Todd was sitting at his makeshift desk across from Josh, working on a couple speeches for the last week of the campaign. Josh would occasionally read what the young man was working on, shake his head either a yes or no, and return the work back. The young man would then scribble more down and the process would continue. Josh was enjoying watching him; for he was very expressive in his writing.

"So Josh," the young man started. "We need to talk about 'the speeches'."

"What speeches?" Josh replied, confused at the statement.

"You know, the ones, the 'speeches'", Todd replied, gesturing quotations when he spoke.

It took Josh a second to realize what he was speaking of, and then he had his 'of course I know, duh' expression. "Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about them."

"Good, because I need to start writing them soon, and I'm frankly a bit scared to write the one," Todd explained.

"The one if we lose?"

Todd stiffed a laugh and smiled at him. "No, actually, the one if we, you know, win."

The older man looked at his young associate with curiosity. He had tried for weeks to figure out what he was about. He paused before continuing. "Yeah, okay." He stopped what he was saying when he saw her enter the room. He tried to hide his enthusiasm by only grinning slightly. He turned back to the young man across from him.

"Listen, here," he said while scribbling down a phone number, "Call Toby Ziegler. Tell him you're trying to write the two speeches. He'll help you from there."

"Me, call, Toby Ziegler?" Todd asked him, stunned at his suggestion.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he replied, noticing she was smiling at him from all the way across the room. "Listen, I gotta go, so you'll be fine, I know."

He picked up his belongings and moved across the room to where she was standing. He was grinning like a child in a candy store. He carefully grabbed her hand and pulled her all the way down the hallway into an alcove. He moved in closer and began kissing her, needing the contact with her. He moved his hands around her, enveloping her in his embrace.

They eventually pulled away and she grinned at him. "Missed me?" she asked him.

"God, yes." He said, out of breath from the kiss that he deemed magical.

"Good, I was worried you were getting tired of me."

He had a look of concern on his face after her statement. He grabbed her hand in his. "You kidding, Donna? I don't think I could ever get sick of you."

She placed a kiss on his cheek, "You are too sweet."

"Let's go," he told her, starting to drag her out of the building.

"Go where Josh?"

"I don't know, how about France?" he said.

She pulled him to a stop during his efforts to take her who knows where. "Josh, are you insane? We can't go to France, we have to stay here and win a campaign."

"Dang, I knew I was forgetting something…" he smirked.

"You are acting so silly, what's going on?" she inquired.

"Well, you see, I went to Texas one day trying to convince this guy to run for President. Then, he actually decided to do it and then all of a sudden, next thing I know, he's got the nomination. And somewhere in there I decided I was completely lost without you, and you joined our team, and…"

"Josh!" she stopped him. "I get your point, now, how about we go for a walk. I think some air could do you some good."

They linked arms and exited the building. It was a rather cold evening and they both donned warmer jackets. Since it was late, past midnight, the cold evening air was prevalent with the gusts of wind blowing in their face. He pulled her close by placing his arm around her. The warmth of their bodies against one another comforted both of them.

For the most part, they walked in silence. It was moments they shared like this that they treasured the most. However, the silence was ended when they reached the stoop of Josh's apartment. They both sat down, sharing a step. He looked up at the moon, which was very bright on that October night.

"You know what?" he asked her.

"Well, I know lots of things, but probably not the particular item you are thinking of," she replied back, in their usual banter fashion.

He turned to her, "In all seriousness Donna, I never thanked you properly for taking care of me after I was shot. I don't think I have ever felt that loved in my entire life. Every time you would visit, I would think to myself, you know, my life isn't all that bad. I mean, yeah, I did get shot at, but to have you, to have you watching over me and caring for me, that meant the world to me."

She turned her head away from him in an attempt to prevent the tears from coming. However, her attempt was futile because the next thing she knew, tears were running down her face.

"Oh Donna, I didn't mean to make you cry," he told her, wiping the tears off with his hand.

She placed her finger on his mouth, hushing him. "Joshua," she started, words coming out in between sobs and tears, "You have no idea how hard it was for me, waiting to find out, if you would live or die. If I would have the opportunity to tell you how I felt. But now, these, these are tears of happiness, because I did get that opportunity."

At that moment, she threw herself at him, and he welcomed her with open arms. They sat there for minutes; he stroked her hair while she lay across his lap. He knew they had so many things left to say to one another, but he was glad at least one of them was out in the open.

Her sobs and tears stopped and she turned her head to face him. "Remember after the shooting when all you would talk about is how you wanted to be an outdoorsman?"

"Of course!" he smiled back. "I don't know what made me want to continue doing this stuff anyway… an outdoorsman would have been a much better career switch."

"And what exactly would you have done?" she asked him.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. Considering I had a lot of time to sit and think, I had it all planned out. I was planning on getting a cabin, say, in Montana," he started. She rolled her eyes at his beginning statement. "What are you rolling your eyes at me for?"

"Montana, Josh? You would live willing in a state that has like, what? Two or three electoral votes? No political power whatsoever?" she asked him, suppressing a laugh or two.

"Excuse me, let me continue, miss make fun of Josh," he replied to her. "Anyway, as I was saying…"

"You were going to get a cabin in Montana," she recapped.

"Yes, and I was going to kill bear and hunt. And catch a lot of fish, I figured I would be a pretty good fisherman," he explained.

"You've done a lot of fishing in the Potomac River?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know me."

At that moment, she couldn't take it anymore. She started laughing uncontrollably. He stared at her, confused why she was laughing at him. And she was now standing and pointing at him too!

"Yes?" he asked.

"Josh," she started, barely able to speak through her cries of laughter, "You would have run from the bear. You've never gone fishing in your life and you would have gone screaming the first night because you'd swear you had heard a raccoon outside the cabin."

"Well, I suppose there might be flaws in my plan…"

He pulled her back on the stoop and pulled her in, his arm draped around her back. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and they sat on the stoop in silence for several minutes. It was not until she started to shiver that he made his move.

"Listen, it's getting late, you're freezing, and we have to be at work early tomorrow," he told her.

"So?" she asked.

"So, I'm saying we go inside, where I have, you know, heat, and we may go to sleep, so that we are not too tired for tomorrow's roster of activities," he explained to her.

"Alright, you win," she replied.

They walked, hand in hand, up the steps, into his apartment. They had finished another day together; both of them rejoiced to have the other in their life. It had become a campaign built on a promise for a better tomorrow and they both had one another to keep that promise to.

**Thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	7. When You've Only Got 100 Years To Live

**Author's Notes:** Thanks to all who have read this. It has been a joy to write. This will be the ending chapter. Expect to see another story from me in the future, I already have a couple ideas in the works. Thanks for reading and please review! This chapter is very much longer than the others and was my favorite to write. **This is set approx. 4 weeks after the previous chapter. So in the time scale, it's approx. 2 weeks after the election. I decided to switch things up a bit – half of it is in Donna's POV and half of it is in Josh's POV. **And as always, The West Wing, etc. belongs to NBC et all… I just use them for fun!

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**Chapter 7 – When You've Only Got 100 Years To Live**

******+Donna POV+**

You know, I've always enjoyed long airplane rides. I remember once with President Bartlet traveling to Russia and I got lucky and was allowed to go with Josh. Part of the ride I spent just sitting by a window, watching the world below go by. You just have this opportunity to sit and enjoy what you have. And right now, I can't be happier with what I have.

Here I am, sitting on a plane, watching the nightlife soar below us as we cross the continental United States. Where am I going, you might ask? I'm off to paradise, one of my favorite states in the union, Hawaii. Why am I going there, you also might ask? Well, that's the best part. Josh is taking me to Hawaii for 5 days. In reality it's only three and a half if you include the airplane rides, but I think they are just as apart of the vacation as the destination itself.

As I mentioned before, it's nighttime, and Josh is sitting in the seat beside me passed out. I don't blame him; he hasn't had a vacation or day off in over a year. He's aged so much in the eight years I've known him; I've noticed it more and more in these past couple of months. I often ask him when he's planning on taking a break from the madness and he replies with a 'whenever I'm too old'. To that I can never reply.

The captain comes over the speaker to announce that we'll be flying over California soon and then be over water for the rest of our journey. I peer down to the ground and see the bright lights in the distance – we must be coming upon one of the big cities. I glance around the cabin for the nth time, making sure there's no one I know on the flight with us. It's not that Josh and I have been exactly quiet about our relationship, we haven't exactly stood on a roof and told the entire world yet. We've both talked about it on several occasions and agreed that until the dust settles from the election and inauguration that we should keep it pretty quiet. Alas, flying to Hawaii for five days on vacation isn't the most subtle thing we could be doing, but we needed it. He needed it.

Election Day, now, that's one memory I can't get out of my head…

**********+Flashback+**

TVs were on all over the place, I had staked out in front of five of them watching every newscaster's single move. It was close so far, Vinick was ahead by 15 electoral votes after the first east coast results. We still had a lot of states to go, but per usual, my stomach was flip-flopping every other second.

I saw him across the room, yelling at some poor volunteer who obviously hadn't been briefed on Josh's Election Day attitude. I couldn't help but laugh at him, he had that funny hair thing going on, and he always looked so cute when he was upset. I turned back to the TVs, watching every result.

I noticed Leo, or should I say now, Mr. McGarry, was coming over to where I standing. He had a grin on his face, so I was unsure how to take his expression.

"Hey Donna," he said, standing next to me and my array of televisions.

"What's your smile for? Good news?" I asked him.

"I think we won Illinois," he told me.

I turned to directly face him and wanted to jump up and down right there, in that spot. Instead I replied with, "Well, that's good! That's great!"

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something," he started.

"About what?" I replied, turning my eyes back on the screens in front of me.

"Not here, let's go in the conference room," he said as he led me to the room.

After shutting the door, he took a seat at one of the chairs and gestured for me to do the same. I sat down at the one across from him and was very uneasy about what was going on.

"So, I've been meaning to talk to you for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't really had the time, and since we have some time on our hands until the next results are in…"

"What is it Leo?" I spat out.

"I wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and Josh finally getting a clue," he said, while I tilted my head downward and smiled. "Seriously, I've known Josh a long time and I've never seen him as happy as when he is with you. Just promise me one thing, you gotta take care of him. You know as much as I do that he sometimes tries to do too much. I don't want it to kill him or anything."

"You have my word on that."

"Good. He tells me he's taking you to Hawaii after this is all said and done."

I couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, I told him he better start planning."

He started to stand back up, "I don't know how good of a vacation you'll have then if he's planning it."

I joined him as we started exiting, "Don't worry, I'll be the one who ends up doing everything."

"Good. Make sure to send me a postcard."

"I promise! Listen, I probably should get back to watching…" I trailed on.

"Yeah, I'll keep ya posted if I hear anything else."

"K, thanks," I replied.

**************+End of Flashback+**

It was not until that moment that I knew how much Leo cared for Josh. In some respects, it was not until that moment that I knew how great of a person Leo really was. At that point, I couldn't have been prouder to be working for him.

I felt him shift in his seat; I glanced over to see he was waking from his slumber. He had been asleep for at least two hours, while I had gazed out the windows and watched the ground below us.

******************+Josh POV+**

I knew this feeling, I've experienced it many times before. Waking up in an airplane seat, disoriented about where I am and where I am going. But then reality sets in and I remember.

This time I liked what I remembered. I looked over and saw her blonde hair and knew this wasn't a dream. I was indeed on a flight to Hawaii with Donna, my shining star. She was awake and was smiling at me.

"Enjoy you rest?" she asked me.

"Yes, yes I did," I told her. I placed my right hand in her left one, gently caressing her beautiful fingers. Everything about her was beautiful, right down to her fingers.

"Good, because we have lots of things planned for our three days," she informs me.

I rub my free hand through my probably mess head of hair and glance back at her. I proceed to do the whining voice that I know she can't resist. "But Donna, this is supposed to be a vacation."

"Are you twelve or something? These things I have planned may not involve us leaving our room," she tells me, quietly while using her seductive voice that I can not resist.

I perk up and give her hand a squeeze, "Good, I like those types of activities. I hope you have them planned often."

"I'm sure that you won't be disappointed," she says with a wink.

"Have you slept at all?" I ask her, now with the concerned voice.

"Not yet, I've been watching the ground below us."

That's one of Donna's secrets I've been able to figure out on my own. She loves long plane rides and just staring out the window and watching. My secret? I love watching her while she does this. I would often spend minutes on flights to who knows where admiring her, watching her.

"You should get some sleep too; I wouldn't want you to be tired for our planned activities."

"I actually got a full night's sleep last night, so I am feeling quite awake right now. But I might take a nap as soon as we hit the ocean," is her response.

I glance around the plane. I know Donna's probably already looked a billion times to see if there is anyone we might know or who might know us. But, I have to check for myself.

She taps on my shoulder, "I've looked already. Unless someone's undercover and trying to get themselves hurt by me, no one's on here we know."

I resign to the fact that Donna is just way better than I thought she was. I have to tell myself that at least twice a day. "I was looking for a flight attendant, silly. Or should I say, paranoid?"

"Sure you were… anyway, here she comes," she tells me.

I stop the flight attendant and ask her for a glass of water. She quickly leaves and brings it back. I drink it quite quickly and it felt so refreshing. I always feel drained after taking a nap during a flight, but that helped wake me up.

"You know, we need to talk about that," she says.

I try to act dumb, but I know exactly what she's talking about, "About what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You and me, us as a couple," she remarks.

"Yeah. I know. You know what the Congressman said? He honestly didn't care and neither does Leo. Donna, I don't think we should worry about the perception of things if they are going to get in the way of us being happy with one another," I try comforting her.

She smiled, so I think I did well. "Okay, alright. But what happens after the inauguration. I mean, obviously, I was hoping you'd take me."

"Are you kidding? Of course! I figured you'd think it was a given. You don't have to worry, Donna, you are the girl for me and I don't think there's anyone else in the entire world who could make me happier," I tell her.

I think she's starting to tear up a little because she takes her hand out of mine to wipe off her eyes. I take my now free hand and place it on her cheek. "I didn't try to make you cry."

"Oh Joshua, don't worry, these are happy tears," she informs me in between wiping streaming tears off her face.

I decided at that moment a couple of key things. First of all, it was a good thing I had booked us in first class because I wouldn't want random dude sitting next to us during this conversation, and second that I might be the happiest man on the planet, right now, in this moment in time. I just helped get a guy elected President; a guy I hand selected and led from the days which no one knew who we were. In the process, I managed to get the girl I never knew I would be able to get. All in all, I was having a pretty good year.

"You know what? We're both having a pretty good year," I state.

"You could say that again," she replies, tear free and smiles abound.

"Do you have any water activity planned for our Hawaii three day adventure?" I inquire.

"Well, it depends. I personally wanted to parasail, but I wasn't too sure if you would be… well, interested."

Parasailing? Okay, this side of Donna is new to me. But I should get used to it. If all goes my way, I'll get to know every side of Donna for the rest of my life.

"Yeah, that does sound kind of… interesting. I guess I'd have to see how safe it is. Or, if you know, it doesn't result in me losing limbs," I ramble.

"I can assure you that you shouldn't lose any limbs," she tells me.

"Alright, but if I come back without a finger, it's your entire fault," I tease her.

See, this, this is what I missed the most about Donna. It's our bantering. I mean, during the end of the campaign there was some bantering, but it was practically non-existent for months before that.

I catch her trying to hide a yawn and decide that's the last straw. "That's it, you need some sleep. I just caught you yawning."

"Fine, have it your way. But I at least get your blanket."

"Deal," I tell her and hand over my blanket. I watch her as she gets settled in and starts to doze off. I told her I wasn't going to bring any work on this trip, well, I told her I would limit the amount of work I was going to bring on this trip. It was part of the agreement, considering I was taking off five days during the crucial transition period, I had to accomplish something worthwhile.

I pull out my notebook, which currently is over its capacity with papers. Donna keeps nagging me, telling me that now I actually will have to get a new assistant. I told her that she'd have to help me find one that was almost as good as she was. She scribbled out a bunch of names and put them on a piece of paper, which, incidentally, was in the mass of papers encompassing this folder.

The first paper I pull out is the rough draft of the staff list. The Congressman basically told me to hire whomever for whatever position; he knew that for this my judgment was best. I put it to the side; I didn't really want to have to think all that hard about it right now.

I was looking for one paper. I flipped through memos and things to be signed until I finally came across what I was looking for.

It is a letter I have written to Donna, which I am planning on giving to her while we are in Hawaii, and then asking her to marry me. In the letter, I list all the things I love about her in many ways. I think it's the perfect idea.

I turn and face her sleeping body. I pull her blanket over her more and place a gentle kiss on her cheek. So this is what it's supposed to feel like – to be completely content with your life and the world. I can't believe I've been missing out on this feeling all this time. I know one thing – I don't ever want to lose this feeling again.

I can see the great things to come – eight years working for a great man, Matthew Santos. I see Donna working for Leo and enjoying it as much as I will. I can imagine us having a daughter and son; our daughter will be come as beautiful as Donna and our son will hopefully grow up to become a lawyer, just like me.

One thing I knew more than anything that my life was far from over, that it merely had just begun. I had so many things, ideas, moments left in me that I couldn't wait to experience them all.

Donna turned in her seat and faced me, her eyes peeking open and a smile crept over her face. I leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"You know, I love you more than anything in this world," I told her, barely speaking above a whisper.

"I know. I know because I love you too."

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**********************Once again, thank you for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated.**


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